''Modern Love'' is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter

Matt Nathanson Matthew Adam Nathanson (born March 28, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter whose work is a blend of Folk music, folk and rock and roll music. In addition to singing, he plays acoustic (sometimes a 12-string) and electric guitar, and has play ...

. It was released on June 21, 2011. ''Modern Love'' was Nathanson's second album for Vanguard Records, following his 2007 album ''

Some Mad Hope ''Some Mad Hope'' is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Matt Nathanson, released on August 14, 2007, on Vanguard Records. It peaked on the ''Billboard'' 200 at #60, and peaked at 3 on the Top Independent Albums. ''Some Mad Hope ...

''. He released the first single, " Faster", as a free download to his fan mailing list in March 2011. ''Modern Love'' debuted at number 17 on the ''Billboard'' 200 for the week of July 9, 2011.

Critical reception

''Modern Love'' received positive reviews from

music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

s. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

score of 72, based on 4 reviews. Jedd Beaudoin of ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' called it "the closest a pop album comes to perfection this year", giving high praise to the track listing for being an amalgam of late 80s to early 90s pop music and balancing both its ballads and upbeat tracks, concluding that it will have "a long and positive legacy, one that can be appreciated by a broad audience if only that audience can listen without prejudice."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

editor Andrew Leahey commended Nathanson for making a consistent project that puts a polished sheen into his signature musicianship from the previous record but found it overall to be "almost meticulously inoffensive," concluding that its "both the blessing and the curse of this album, which charts a steady path but offers few surprises as a result."

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians *

- Lead & Background Vocals, Acoustic & Electric Guitar * Zac Rae - Drum Programming, Keyboards, Baritone Ukulele, Glockenspiel, Guitar, Drums, Percussion * Ben West - Piano, Keyboards * Rainman - Drum Programming, Piano, Keyboards, Synths * Brandon Bush - Piano, Keyboards, Wurlitzer * Aaron Tap - Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Background Vocals * Michael Chaves - Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Nylon String Guitar * David Levita - Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Lap Steel Guitar * John Thomasson - Bass Guitar, Upright Bass * Curt Schnieder, Tim Smith - Bass Guitar *

Jason McGerr Jason McGerr (born July 19, 1974) is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the band Death Cab for Cutie. Musical career Early years McGerr was born and raised in Bellingham, Washington. At age ten, he began learning to play the ...

, Aaron Sterling,

Shannon Forrest Shannon Forrest (born August 22, 1973 in Easley, South Carolina) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. As a session drummer, he has contributed to the work of many well-known artists, and he is also a pr ...

- Drums, Percussion Horn Section * Danny T. Levin - Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Alto Horn, Trombone, Euphonium * David Moyer - Tenor & Baritone Sax, Bass Clarinet, Bassoon * Chris Miller - Tuba Group Vocals * Zac Rae, Michael Chaves, Mark Weinberg,

- The "Mercy" Clap Choir * Ayappa Biddanda, Isaac Johnson, Paul Doucette, Aaron Tap,

- The "Modern Love" Choir "Run" Featured Artists *

Jennifer Nettles Jennifer Odessa Nettles (born September 12, 1974) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and record producer. Nettles is the lead vocalist of the duo Sugarland alongside Kristian Bush, and prior to this she fronted the Atlanta-based band ...

- Lead & Background Vocals *

Kristian Bush Kristian Merrill Bush (born March 14, 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Bush is one half of the country music duo Sugarland with Jennifer Nettles, and was a member of the folk rock duo Billy Pilgrim with Andrew Hyra ...

- Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Background Vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

mattnathanson.com/modernlove
* {{Authority control 2011 albums Matt Nathanson albums Vanguard Records albums